Old wounds
by mirel
Summary: 25 years after their second marriage, Michelle and Tony have to tell their children what has really happened in their lives. Season 5 dosen't exist in my story...!


_Story of Michelle and Tony; takes place 25 years after their second marriage. They have a daughter and two sons. Their daughter is 23 and dating with Jake, who works in the CTU. Michelle and Tony are trying to stop it, telling about their life. Everything before season 5 has happened; prison, divorce, everything. Hope you enjoy, and sorry if there is some grammar mistakes... Please review!_

I loved her so much. I couldn't let this happen. If I would, she would go truth the same as we, maybe worst. She didn't know about our past, not yet. I think we have to tell her. Otherwise she will get hurt, or even worst, marry him. It wouldn't be a problem if he wouldn't work in CTU. But he does. Natalie is proud of him! Doesn't she understand what she is doing?

I love Natalie so much, I have loved her from the first time I saw her. She's my first child, part of me and Michelle. She's too perfect for him. We cave up everything for her! Why is she ruining everything? I want my child to be safe. That man isn't offering him safety.

I look at Michelle, my beautiful wife. I see fear in her eyes, and it makes me feel hurt. I don't want to open the old wounds. I know how much they still hurt, both me and my wife. But we have to open them. We have to tell them. And it's same to tell Michael and Jack at the same time.

I close Michelle in to my arms, whispering sweet things to her ear. It is going to be rough night. Today we are going to tell them.

"Are we going to tell everything?" she whispers. I hear fear in her voice. Are we going to tell about how we really met, how we get married, how I went to prison for saving her, how we get divorced, how we find each other again, how we left everything? "Yeah, we are."

The bell rings, and our son Michael, who is still living whit us, open the door. He is 18, and going to move out soon. He is the youngest, and he opens the door to his brother Jack who is three years older. How much I love them both. I hope they understand why we haven't told sooner.

Michelle and I went to the door to welcome our second son, named after Jack Bower, my friend, who I haven't seen in more than 25 years. I hug my son, looking at him. He looks lot like me when I was younger, not like Michael who looks lots more like her mum. Jack works for the army. I wouldn't want him to, but it isn't my choice. I'm afraid that he is walking the same way I did.

When we all are getting comfort in living room, the bell rings again. Natalie. Michelle and I are going to open the door, our sons' stays in living room.

I remember how Michelle came to me crying that Natalie had found a boyfriend. I didn't understand at first, but when she said that he was working at CTU… I remember how we tried to sleep hugged together. Thank god Michael wasn't home that night.

I open the door and see her. Natalie is looking beautiful as always. I hug my daughter tight, and I notice the happy smile she wears. I haven't seen her so happy… maybe never. She wears the same smile her mother did when I first time told that I love her. It brings smile to my face for a second. We don't have to talk at the door; it can wait for a second. Let her keep hers smile.

The dinner goes well, even thought Michelle is looking very depressed, and I know I'm wearing sad face. Our children are talking about everything, laughing, eating hungry the food I made. But we can't smile anymore. The time for telling is too close, we are going to break our daughter heart, and we are going to hurt Jack and Michael. My heart is beating faster, and I keep my face in the floor.

They are looking us weirdly, but they don't say anything. When the dinner is over and we are sitting in the living room, I'm ready to talk.

"We have something that we have to tell you." My face is blank, and I'm holding tight Michelle's hand. "Something we have trying to tell for a long time. But there wasn't the right time. And now it's maybe too late." They are all looking at me, looking at Michelle who keeps her eyes in the table. I look at them back.

Michael, our youngest, our little boy who always made us smile. Still makes. He is so smart; he has always been the easy child. I love him so much.

Jack our first son. He has everything what is great in Michelle and me, nothing bad. He is so strong, just like my friend Jack. I hope he makes better choices and that the luck is always on his side. I love him so much.

Natalie. Little miracle, child I never thought I would have. Michelle's and mine child. I never thought that it would happen; me as a father. But it did. When I hold her in my arms for the first time, I knew she would be beautiful, that she would be perfect. She is, in her own way. And I love her so much. How much I hate to break her heart.

"We have to tell you something, or not just something, but many things; many important things. Something that maybe makes you looks at us in different way…" I take a deep breath and I have to look down. I feel the thick air, I can hear the silence.

Then suddenly, just when I am going to talk again, I can hear her voice. Everybody turns to look at her. Michelle has been so quiet all night. "We have told you that we met at work. It is true. But you don't know the whole true. We haven't always been working in that computer company", she says, taking a deep breath. Natalie, Jack and Michael are looking confused. "We met when we were both working at the CTU."

I take a deep breath, not surprised to hear Jack's "What a hell? Isn't that the place where…" But he can't speak to the end, Natalie's voice hide his. "That's the place where Jake works!" she screams for surprise. "It is the counter terrorist unit. Why you were working there?" says Michael for a turn.

I take a deep breath. "At the time Michelle came there, I was running that place. Michelle started as a systems analyst." As I guess, it just brings just more questions. "You run the place?" asks Jack yelling. "Why you are telling us now? And were this conversion is leading?" asks Natalie. I close my eyes and look at Michelle. She is looking down, and I see depression in her face. I can't stand her looking so sad.

"Please, let us tell our story. You will understand. This is for you Natalie. This is for you to understand were you had got yourself." I say in quiet voice. The silence great me for a second, then I hear Natalie's little voice, full of fear.

"What do you mean?" "That man, Jake, he is dangerous. I mean not him, but his job is. I have seen it. You see when I tell you our story. Please, let us tell!" I say, seeing that there is many things Natalie want to say, but she has to listen. She does. And so does the boys.

"We started dating after one very hard and long day… there had been an explosion in the CTU, everything had just gone wrong… It made us realise that you can loose everything in the second. It made us realise we couldn't just wait forever. We dated two years before we get married." Michelle tells, looking at me and smiles. Yeah, I remember that time too. It was so happy time, for both of us. But then she looks away and I continue.

"Year after that, everything fell apart. There was a virus relished, and that was just a beginning. It was pure hell, that day. I got shot, Michelle was in hotel were virus was relished, but for a luck she was immune. She could have died. I could have died. But it was just a start. They fucking kidnapped her. And I cooperate with the terrorists just to get her back. And I succeed. She is alive. But it wasn't happy ending. They place me in to prison, for treason. I thought that I would stay there for a rest of my life. But I got a pardon." I stopped for a breath, to collect my thoughts.

"You have been in prison?" said Natalie's quiet whisper. He couldn't stay quiet. I understand. She was in shock. But even more afraid I was for my boys. They stayed so quiet. I was going to answer, but Michelle was quicker. "Yeah, he was; for saving me. If he hadn't, I would be dead, and you, Jack or Michael wouldn't exist." I saw a tear rolling from her eye.

"After I got out of prison, we got divorced." I said in a little voice. It was Michael's turn to say "What a…" I looked to Ryan who looked abandoned and very confused. "We have been married twice. Our first married fell in to pieces, because I couldn't go on after prison… It was just so hard. I thought that drinking would make things better. It made it worst. Half year in prison isn't good for you."

"But we find each other again after a year", said Michelle sending me a little smile. The tear was gone. "Have you Jack ever thought about were you got your name?" I asked from Jack who shakes his head. I went on. "It comes from an old friend of mine, who asked me to help him one day. He led me to CTU, and Michelle was there. We felled in love again, get married and moved here." Our children looked confused, lost, like they wouldn't know what to say or do. "We never told you because we wanted to move on. You were so little; you still are in our eyes. We didn't want to hurt you. But it wasn't just because of you. It was because of us. We wanted to forget everything that happened there, at the CTU. The memories were too painful to speak, they still are. Everything that happened… I just can't believe how close we were to lose each other, and how many times! We just didn't get it early enough, that it was the job that was trying to break us. We were blind because it was the thing that had bring us together. Not before it bring us apart. We were so lucky that the job brings us together again, and we were finally wise enough to leave it finally." Michelle told, tears in her eyes, and I dried them at my other hand. She smiles. There is silence in room again. They are trying to understand.

"This has nothing to do whit Jake" Natalie said finally, shaking her head. I took a deep breath. "Yes it is, because it was the job, that tears us apart, it was the job that almost killed us. We have seen too many people in that job destroyed. The man, who after Jack is named, lost his wife because a terrorist killed her, even thought she had nothing to do whit CTU. We are not letting the same happen to you Natalie!" told Michelle before I did. Natalie looked at Michelle, fear in her eyes. Then she started to cry. I take my hand out of Michelle's, walked to crying Natalie and close her to my arms. She keeps crying, and I can see Michelle hugging our sons, telling them more. But Natalie, she has heard enough. I can feel tear rolling from my eye; I have broken my daughter heart.


End file.
